


Pledis Skating Club

by minghaoessence (princessintheshadows)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Skating, F/M, Friendship, M/M, Romance, Slice of Life, Stupidity of thirteen boys, figure skating AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-14 01:11:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14124888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessintheshadows/pseuds/minghaoessence
Summary: Thirteen boys who show you that amidst all the rivalry and competition, friendship can bloom.





	1. That Skating Club Located in Gangnam

**Author's Note:**

> A SEVENTEEN Figure Skating AU.
> 
> Hello~ your least favorite writer is here with another fanfic she doesn't know when she will be able to finish.
> 
> This is my second time writing an RPF fanfic and honestly, I wasn't actually planning on writing this, but this AU suddenly crossed my mind when I saw a picture of Jun skating on an ice rink. I just couldn't let these ideas go to waste!
> 
> Quick reminder that I'm not very good at writing so please don't expect a lot about this. I am also very open to constructive criticism! All of the things written in this fic are pure fiction and are inaccurate compared to real life skating. (Obviously lol)
> 
> Another reminder is that I changed the maknae line's age because they are still junior skaters in the story :')

The Pledis Skating Club was known for head coach Kim Yeon Soo’s exemplary coaching skills. The club started off as a no-name back in the early years. Yeon Soo only had two Ladies’ skaters, Park Jiyoung and Son Dambi, to coach on. And being a natural born coach he was, he took those two women in the Olympics twice—and podiumed, twice.

That was the start of the Pledis Skating Club. Slowly, the rink became more and more crowded as skaters literally increased each month. Their major break out was at 2013 when Yeon Soo began scouting and accepting some male skaters he became interested in. Thirteen boys he never knew, would give a big change to the figure skating community with their own unique skating.

* * *

 

The New Year just came by and at January 1 in the morning, Pledis’ skaters were trying to make their way inside the rink with a frustrated atmosphere. Why was it that other people were able to spend the New Year properly and they didn’t? Everybody stayed awake last night but they couldn’t because of practice. Everybody ate a lot of food with their families while they only get breakfast this morning.

New Year’s Day wasn’t that important in Korea, but it still sucks knowing you weren’t part of a celebration where the majority of people in the world celebrated.

“Happy 2017…” Choi Seungcheol, one of the oldest skaters Yeon Soo had. A 23-year-old Pair skater who was usually one of the people who always helped around the rink—especially with the cleaning.

Seungcheol made his way to an empty bench and gloomily placed his bag down. With a frown on his face, he took his skates and began wearing them, tying the boots frustratingly after getting teased about how he wasn’t able to eat New Year’s food last night. He wanted that those rice cakes.

Jeonghan sat right next to him, looking much brighter than the male. He greeted Seungcheol with his usual smile but then chuckled joking that it wasn’t much of a _happy_ for the first day of 2017. “Let me guess. Spent Christmas with your family, but couldn’t spend New Year’s with them?”

“Yeah, sucks. My brother kept teasing me about how he ate all of the rice cakes, even though my mom promised me she’ll save me some.” Seungcheol tried hiding the obvious whimper that was escaping from him, but couldn’t, “I just wanted some damn rice cakes. I told myself I could spend all day practicing and then cleaning the rink if I had my mom’s homemade rice cakes!”

Jeonghan covered his mouth to hide the smile he was giving out and patted his friend’s back. He didn’t know rice cakes could be that dramatic.

Yoon Jeonghan was the same age as Seungcheol. The second oldest in the rink and a Singles Men skater who garnered tons of female fans. Dubbed as the Prince of Ice, Jeonghan was known for skating mostly with classical music with a princely feel. His whole prince-like appearance and skating style was the total package. A Disney prince on ice, female fans would say. He has the best spins in the whole team which makes him such an elegant skater to watch.

“Good morning.”

Stepping inside next were two Chinese boys; Wen Junhui and Xu Minghao. Compared to Seungcheol, these two weren’t as glum as him. Since they moved to Korea leaving their parents in their home country, these two were so used to skipping the New Year’s celebration. In fact, they would actually go out and eat rice cakes and dim sum three hours before midnight strikes, calling it an early New Year celebration.

“What’s his problem?” Junhui pointed to Seungcheol who seemed to be tying his laces still. It has been more than three minutes and he has only finished tying his left boot.

Wen Junhui was a 22-year-old Singles Men skater representing his home country, China. He changed coaches four years ago after discovering the Pledis Skating Club during Four Continents in South Korea. He didn’t miss the opportunity and went with it, leaving his family just to fulfill his dreams.

Junhui is pretty much known for being the most expressive skater in his category. He is easily attached to the music giving out such meaningful facial expressions as if he owns the music, the whole program.

A laugh suddenly escapes from Minghao all of a sudden after hearing Seungcheol’s rice cake story from Jeonghan. “I can’t believe rice cakes can be dramatic!”

He earned a shush from the older male, scolding him for being a rude junior. Good thing Seungcheol had already begun warming up on ice with his partner before he could realize that the Chinese’s laugh was for him.

Xu Minghao, just like Junhui, is a Chinese Singles Men skater who also decided to move to Korea when he decided on changing coaches. He was the very last skater to join back in 2013, in December. He decided the change on the spur of the moment, which made him immediately fly to Korea without any knowledge of the language. But luckily, the people in the club were approachable people, and there was Junhui who was a fellow Chinese and his childhood friend.

He was one of the skaters in the club who had already experienced being in the Olympics. Minghao was ranked 9th back at Sochi Olympics 2014, which was a good start for his career. Now that another Olympic season is close, he is making sure that he’ll get another chance to represent his home country at the upcoming Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018.

“I’m gonna do off-ice warmups!” Minghao announced, taking out his yoga mat and carefully placing it on the floor neatly. He began stretching for a good ten minutes before doing jumps.

His jumps were exemplary. The Chinese was known for his beautifully executed jumps, which is why he is currently 5th in the world standings. Skaters admired him for having high technical scores, with his program components not lagging behind.

A loud “Good morning!” suddenly caused a big uproar in the rink, making every person glance over to the entrance door—only to see Kwon Soonyoung walk in with Lee Seokmin and Hong Jisoo.

“Stop startling everyone, Soonyoung. There were other skaters jumping, what if they didn’t land right?” Jisoo chided.

The chubby-cheeked male still had the nerve to smile and apologize in a cheerful manner. Jisoo and Seokmin had to roll their eyes.

Kwon Soonyoung. One of the most unique skaters the skating club has ever had. This 22-year-old has been choreographing his own programs since he was a junior skater. He used to have help with other choreographers, but just recently he had successfully choreographed a program for himself. People admire his over-the-top complex step sequence that nobody can ever think of. Only he, Soonyoung, can even think of such steps.

Hong Jisoo—preferably called Joshua Hong—a 23-year-old Korean Singles Men who grew up living in Los Angeles. The third oldest in the skating club, he represents America and has his own fan club of female supporters. If Jeonghan was the Prince of Ice in Korea, Joshua was the Prince of Ice in America. He and Jeonghan have the same taste in music, and they were always paired up together as rivals.

Ironically though, these two are great friends and they treat each other as brothers.

Lee Seokmin is an ice dancer. Together with his partner, So Jihyun, they are known to be the epitome of sunshine and happiness. Whenever they skate on the ice, they give off such a cheerful and bright vibe that makes the audience clap for their usual upbeat music program.

“Alright, is everyone here?”

Head Coach Yeon Soo makes his way inside the rink. He easily placed his two feet on the ice as if he was just walking on normal ground. Right behind him is the skating club’s resident choreographer Park Jiyoung who used to be a Singles skater back in her competition days. The two of them had a short conversation before facing all the skaters who rushed up to the ice in a matter of seconds by the time the two adults arrived.

“Alright before we begin, is anybody running late today?” Yeon Soo asked, eyeing his skaters one by one. His students who received eye contact with him shivered in fear knowing how their coach hated latecomers.

Two female skaters raised their hand, Yeon Soo immediately glancing over at them. “Yes, ladies?”

Cheon Yunmi, Kim Mingyu’s partner in pair skating spoke, “Um, Mingyu’s not here yet.”

“So is Wonwoo,” Ji Eunha, Jeon Wonwoo’s ice dancing partner added. “I thought he already left first when I woke up this morning…”

“Oh, and also the three junior skaters Seungkwan, Hansol, and Chan. And Jihoon.” Jeonghan butted in after noticing that the junior skaters were missing three people.

A sigh escaped from Yeon Soo as he facepalmed. He then ordered the single skaters to do off-ice practice for a while, as the pairs and ice dancers will be put into attention for now. The single skaters cheered softly before leaving the ice one by one, excited to take off their skates and put on some sneakers. On ice training with the coach was hard, everybody knew that.

“Coach, what about Mingyu and Wonwoo?” Jiyoung asked.

“They won’t get any water break after the drills I’ll be giving them.” Answered the coach. “I specifically told them that we’re gonna have practice today. I expected nobody to be late.”

Jiyoung gulped, the tone of voice Yeon Soo gave out such a terrifying aura even for a skater like her who isn’t even part of the practice. “W-well,” she stuttered, “What about the three juniors and Lee Jihoon?”

“If they don’t get back here by on-ice practice, I’m giving them the punishment. You know, what I gave you and Dambi back then.”

Jiyoung suddenly felt pity for the latecomers and prayed the four single skaters would arrive sooner. Coach Yeon Soo’s punishments were no joke.

* * *

 

The double doors opened and revealed Kim Mingyu and Jeon Wonwoo gasping for air. They caught everybody’s attention, suddenly stopping from what they were doing just to give the two latecomers a glance. The skaters pitied them, while Yeon Soo smirked terrifyingly.

“Well look who decided to join us,” he chimed, “Kim Mingyu, Jeon Wonwoo. Give me a good reason as to why you two don’t deserve to be punished today.”

Mingyu, a tall male with tanned skin confidently raised his hand, “Sir! I apologize for being late. I woke up just in time to arrive here but the train I was on broke and we stayed stranded for an hour before it continued to move again.”

Yeon Soo accepted the reason and let Mingyu join his partner. The male rushed to a bench to change to his skates as fast as he can. Yeon Soo then eyed Wonwoo who was looking down guiltily.

“Um,” Wonwoo uttered, fixing his glasses nervously. “I-I… Woke up late… Because Eunha didn’t wake me up.”

A sigh escaped from the coach and Eunha—the female disappointed for his partner and childhood friend.

“Wear your skates and join your partner… Don’t forget to do some warm-ups first before joining Eunha.” Yeon Soo told Wonwoo. He felt bad for the boy so he decided to drop the punishment since it was the New Year after all.

Practice then went on and all of the pairs and ice dancers were then told to leave the ice, leaving only one pair to stay to practice their programs one by one. First to perform their short program was Mingyu and Yunmi. Every skater suddenly stopped to watch the two skate, as these two were the best pair skaters. Being a bronze medalist back at Sochi 2014 and consecutive 1sts in world standings. The figure skating community will be expecting them once again in Pyeongchang.

“You know I always feel scared watching pairs doing overhead lifts and throw jumps to their partners, but at the same time can’t keep my eyes off their performance. Mingyu and Yunmi’s performances are always so extraordinary.” Jeonghan commented. He suddenly flinched after Mingyu threw Yunmi in the air for a triple axel throw jump. A sigh of relief escaped his lips after the female landed smoothly on the ice.

Joshua, who was right next to his friend laughed at his sudden reaction. “And I can never get tired of watching you flinch every time a skater throws their partner in the air.”

Mingyu and Yunmi then proceeded to do a triple salchow, double toe loop combination in complete sync making the whole crowd cheer at the amazing synchronization the two had. Their program ended with a side by side camel spin and the crowd went wild.

And as if on cue, the double doors once again opened to see the four latecomers—Lee Jihoon, Lee Chan, Boo Seungkwan and Chwe Hansol. Everyone then faced the four and sarcastically clapped for them, a few even blowing whistles to congratulate them for being the latest of the late this 2017.

Yeon Soo couldn’t do anything and just let his students in and told them to warm up. He then called for the next pair to perform and everyone’s attention went back on the ice, leaving the four latecomers to do their off-ice warmups.

Choi Seungcheol and his Japanese partner Kitagawa Keiko does their opening pose as they waited for the music to start. What was unique about these two is the way they look at each other. They look at each other as if they were destined lovers in their own little world, captivating the audience with their charms.

While the two perform their beautifully angst-filled short program, Lee Jihoon was in his own little world wearing his earphones listening to his own short program, visualizing performance in his mind.

When fans hear his name, the first thing that pops up in their head is that he is a composer. Jihoon is known for composing his own program music and skating to it in every competition. The fact that he owns the music itself makes it easy for him to tell the story through skating. He is the second most emotional skater after Wen Junhui.

* * *

Several pair skaters later, it was now time for the ice dancers to perform. Wonwoo and Eunha were first to perform their short dance. Excitement filled each and every skater who was watching, thanking themselves that they didn’t skip practice for today. Wonwoo and Eunha’s programs were to die for.

One thing that Wonwoo and Eunha have that ice dancers could never ever have is their beautiful chemistry. On the contrary, these two are childhood friends which can explain the trust and comfortable feeling they have with each other. But still, on or off the ice, people just fall in love with the Wonwoo-Eunha pair.

“Please remind me that these two are just friends,” Seungcheol told his seatmate Seokmin. “I keep telling myself that they’re a couple.”

“Don’t worry, hyung,” Seokmin replied, “Even I mistake them as one. Their chemistry is incomparable, they tell stories that make the audience feel like they can relate in a way. They’re just… Magical. I’m jealous.”

On the other side of the rink, Jiyoung proudly watches the masterpiece of a program she created for the two. She couldn’t keep the smile away from her face knowing that the very program she had choreographed for Wonwoo and Eunha brought them to 3rd place in last season’s world standings.

“Beautiful. Now, what’s a good program music for the upcoming Olympics?” The choreographer muttered to herself, tapping her chin with her index finger. “Umbrellas of Cherbourg, maybe?”

The short dance ended with Wonwoo wrapping his arms around Eunha who was leaning back. He leans in forward just to get to her eye level making their eyes locked for a whole six seconds, catching their breaths after the tiring performance they did. Both of them couldn’t contain the smile on their faces as they waited for the crowd to cheer before leaving their ending pose. Once again, another beautiful performance.

“Great job, partner.” Eunha slapped Wonwoo’s back before leaving the ice first. The male followed suit while rubbing the lower part of his back that stung from the slap.

Ice dancer’s continued on with their individual short dance performances, and right after that, Jiyoung and Yeon Soo called for all of the skaters’ attention.

“Alright, short break for the pairs and ice dancers. Single skaters get on the ice, we’re doing drills first.” Yeon Soo announced.

Men and Ladies skaters stepped on the ice and immediately lined up for drills. After five sets, they scattered around the rink to do their own freestyle practice. Lee Chan had his whole program music memorized in his head which made him began doing spins and jumps while he sang the music mentally. This 15-year-old junior men skater is known for being the Michael Jackson on ice. He, just like Soonyoung, choreographs his own programs with the help of Jiyoung. His preferences were mostly Michael Jackson songs or something funky and pop.

Something a Michael Jackson fan would _obviously_ do.

Jeonghan did a few jump combinations before stopping for a moment after hearing a crunch. He turned to his back and found Boo Seungkwan sneaking in some potato chips on ice. Before the older male could scold him, they both heard Seungcheol yell.

“Seungkwan get off the ice if you want to munch! You know how food is prohibited on the rink!” The oldest skater yelled as he began to chase the younger—who was now running for his dear life.

Seungkwan was another junior men skater—16 years of age—who was loved by the audience every time he makes his way on the ice. Practically any kind of music genre fits him with his overflowing confidence. Not to mention the sass. He was known to be that sassy skater during interviews.

He received a judging face from Hansol who was just about to go back on the ice after water break. “What?” He uttered.

“I was hungry, I didn’t get breakfast today.”

The halfer chuckled, “Yeah, I know. You never skip meals.” He retorted. He knew—they’ve been together since the novice days having the same coach all their life.

Chwe Hansol is another 16-year-old junior men that is loved by many people for his charm. He has a unique way of skating that people couldn’t point a finger to. Hansol can get completely sucked into his own world whenever the music starts, he gives his own meaning to songs that were supposed to mean differently.

He extended his arm to hold onto Seungkwan’s wrist, “Let’s go before I beat you at Junior Worlds this season.”

Seungkwan raised an eyebrow and smirked, “You know you can’t beat me, bronze medalist.”

The two then raced up to the ice, accidentally hitting other skaters that, thus, caused another ruckus. Seungcheol was heard yelling and scolding, while Yeon Soo was seen by the barriers sighing as though it was common for him to see his students causing trouble for others.

Just another day in that skating club located in Gangnam.


	2. Preparation, Joshua's Worries

“I don’t get why people are all so chill when we only have one month left before Four Continents,” Minghao complains while putting on his gloves, annoyance evident on his face every time he hears a noise.

Junhui rolls his eyes, taking off his skate guards. “I don’t get why you’re so stressed about it when we _still_ have one month before Four Continents.” He mutters, “Skating genius.”

Just before Junhui could make his way on the ice, he received a good glove slap on the face from Minghao. “I’m not,” retorted the younger. “Shut your pie-hole and just practice.”

Minghao went on the ice first before Junhui could ever do, muttering something about the older Chinese not getting podiumed by a measly 2.48 gap back at the Grand Prix Final in December. “And he has the nerve to chill.” The younger added.

A chuckle was heard making Junhui turn around. Behind him was Joshua, who was just on his way to the ice. He placed his skate guards on a random bench close to the rink before making his way back to Junhui with a sigh.

“Minghao is as competitive as ever,” he uttered, watching the young Chinese execute an amazing quadruple Lutz—only to fall down on his landing. He went further to the other side of the rink to avoid the other skaters while muttering something in disappointment.

“Too competitive.” Junhui mumbles.

Joshua runs his fingers through his hair as he watches other skaters practice on the rink. “Everyone is worrying about Worlds, but he’s worried about Four Continents.”

He shrugs, “But it doesn’t really matter. It has always been like this—everyone ignoring each other just to focus on the event. We are all rivals, anyways.”

Junhui hummed in agreement and gave Joshua a nod. Then, he glanced over to where Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Jeonghan were. The three representatives of Korea were the closest inside the rink, but whenever the competition was right around the corner, they act as if they are complete total strangers.

“Mhm,” Junhui chimes, “Sometimes I feel like it’s hard when we all practice on the same rink and have the same coach. The atmosphere is so heavy.”

Joshua agreed with the Chinese’s statement. Then, he bade him goodbye before leaving him to go on the ice, preparing himself to practice some jumps and spins. Junhui followed, moving to a more secluded part of the rink to avoid any disturbance. Sometimes he gets annoyed at how competitive Minghao was, but he always ends up mentally apologizing knowing that he still admires the determination his friend has.

It probably has something to do with how Minghao got silver last Grand Prix Final by just 1.04 points with Soonyoung, though. If there is one thing Junhui can describe his friend, it was that he hated losing.

Every time the new year goes by, senior skaters prepare themselves for two upcoming events that officially ends the season. Four Continents (for non-European countries) or the Europeans (for European countries), and Worlds.

When the seniors are all stressed and hyped up about Four Continents, the junior skaters are the chill-est of the chill. Since Junior Worlds is still two months away, they let their seniors take the ice while they spend however they want off ice with literally nobody stopping them.

“Hey,” Seungkwan tapped his two friends’ shoulders. Chan and Hansol glanced at him. “Four Continents’ in Gangneung this time. Wanna watch the noonas and hyungs skate?”

The youngest Chan cheered, “You bet! I already got my mom to buy tickets.”

“Jealous,” Hansol pouted, “I’m still not sure with my parents, but I think they’ll let me.” He shrugged.

“I don’t wanna miss Mingyu-hyung and noona’s free program! Gotta say, I always get chills with their triple twist opening and then followed by a triple toe, double toe, double toe combo.” The male added with a big grin plastered on his face. The way Hansol spoke made it quite obvious that he was a big fan of the Mingyu-Yunmi pair.

“You know what gives me the chills the most?” Seungkwan retorted, “You knowing every element they execute in the program to the point you can be an emcee just for their performances!”

Chan laughed at Seungkwan’s retorting and added, “Accurate!”

* * *

 

When the senior representatives were finally out to practice in Gangneung, Pledis Club’s junior skaters literally had all the rink to themselves. With Coach Yeon Soo out to accompany his skaters at the ice arena, senior skaters Choi Minki and Hwang Minhyun took over to look after the juniors. They were one of the skaters who wasn’t picked to be representatives for Four Continents, therefore leaving them in the club.

These two, along with Kang Dongho and Kim Jonghyun, are usually the substitutes in looking after the club whenever the coach wasn’t around—whenever they were free. Being one of the pioneer skaters in the club, they were very close to Yeon Soo, which meant they were his most trusted skaters.

“Alright, freestyle session starts now. First ten skaters find your place, others do some off-ice practice.” Minki announced. He faced his friend Minhyun and added, “Go fix these kids’ program songs. We’ll be doing some free skate rehearsals for Junior Worlds.”

Minhyun nodded and then ran to the broadcasting room. Inside, he began finding the list of the club’s skaters that were chosen to represent for Junior Worlds. It took him a while as his fellow skater Kang Dongho usually fixed the paper works inside the room. With him absent, he had to look over to the five filing cabinets that had four drawers each.

Minutes later, Minhyun was finally able to find the papers—wiping the sweat that accumulated on his temples. _Coach should really think of installing an AC inside this room_ , he thought. He went to the computer and began putting each skater’s song in a playlist.

He walked back to the rink to tell Minki about the music. “Fixed them in order of the list of entries we got from ISU. Let’s start with the men’s first before the ladies, ice dancers, and pairs.”

Inside the Gangneung Ice Arena, skaters were ecstatic to finally see how it looked like. After hearing that it was going to be Winter Olympics’ venue for figure skating, every single skater joining Four Continents was stoked when ISU announced that the said event was also going to take place in the same ice arena. Hoshi and Seokmin were one of the hyped skaters who couldn’t stop dancing just to relieve their excitement to the fact that they were going to skate in the upcoming Olympic’s venue. How cool was that?

“Stop that,” Jihyun scolded her ice dance partner. “You’re embarrassing.”

Seokmin immediately stopped and kept his mouth shut like an obedient puppy. He followed his partner who was walking up to the rink as the ice dancing practice were about to begin. Eunha and Yunmi were trying so hard to hide their laughs that they couldn’t stop snickering from behind. Yunmi and Mingyu decided to stay on the audience stand to watch the practice, while Eunha went with Wonwoo by the barricades to wait for their turn. Pledis’ other skaters were either staying at the hotel or doing some sightseeing.

“Did practice start?”

“Yeah, they’re probably warming up for now. I wonder if they already did draw lots for the starting order…”

“Can’t wait for Seokmin-Jihyun and Wonwoo-Eunha!”

Mingyu was surprised to see Woozi, Jeonghan, and Soonyoung sitting just three steps lower from them. He called for the three and sat with them, bringing Yunmi along. “Hey, where’s Minghao, Junhui, and Seungcheol-hyung?”

“Gyu!” Soonyoung exclaimed, smiling at the tall male. “They are doing some sightseeing to calm Minghao down. He was feeling stressed lately so Jun and hyung had to pull him along.”

Woozi nodded, “The kid actually wanted to do some practice, he couldn’t even wait for our own rehearsals tomorrow, I can’t believe it.”

Yunmi couldn’t help but frown at the boys’ conversation. Just three days ago she witnessed Minghao staying in the club’s ice rink at seven in the evening. Then the next day, she noticed his feet wrapped in bandages before putting on socks and skates.

“It’s Soonyoung’s fault,” Jeonghan blames jokingly, pointing at the chubby-cheeked male right next to him. “He won by one point something or other back at the Grand Prix Final.”

“Is it my fault that the boy is born competitive? Is it my fault that it was my time to shine that time?” Soonyoung looked utterly furious, but he’s just over exaggerating just to ride on with Jeonghan’s humor.

Jeonghan continued teasing Soonyoung, with Soonyoung bickering, causing noise for the people around them. Woozi gave a loud and audible shush making the two shut up. They shuffled around their seat and mumbled an apology.

“Seokmin and Jihyun are up,” Yunmi announced.

“Next skaters on the ice, representing Korea,” the emcee boomed from the speakers, “Lee Seokmin and So Jihyun.”

While everyone was doing their own thing—watching the ice dance practice or sightseeing—Joshua decided by himself to stay in his hotel room. Lying down in bed and staring up at the ceiling, he—once again—begins to contemplate how the competition will go. He heaved a sigh as he thinks back to the past competitions of the current season.

3rd in Skate Canada and 2nd in NHK Trophy, it was even a miracle that he was able to advance to the Grand Prix Final. But, he, unfortunately, landed in 7th place at the said competition. Joshua never podiumed ever since his senior debut—to think that he was the “American” counterpart for Jeonghan’s “Prince on Ice” title was somehow embarrassing. The highest spot he got was at 2015 Worlds which was 4th.

To top it all off, America’s figure skating federation almost decided to replace him with a different skater to represent Four Continents. The pressure his country is just so overwhelming that he is as stressed as Minghao. If he doesn’t podium even just a bronze medal for this competition, there is a high chance that he’ll be replaced by a different skater in Worlds—losing his chance for representing in the upcoming Olympics.

That can’t happen.

He grumbled and turned to face the right side. A heavy sigh once again escaped his lips as he closes his eyes beginning to meditate. He knows very well with his current state of mind, he won’t be able to skate properly.

He let his mind run, but he avoided disappointing memories like the competitions. Instead, his mind looked back on the moments he had with practice, with his friends, with the little achievements he had gotten so far as the years went by. Everything was going to be okay.

_You’re here right now because you deserve it. You’re going to kill it, no errors, just beautiful performances._

Joshua’s eyes fluttered open when he heard the door knock. “Shua~” the person called from the outside. A small smile crept up to his mouth, knowing whose familiar voice it was that called his name. He left his bed and quickly opened the door.

Jeonghan appeared with a plastic bag of tteokbokki, waving it as soon as the door open. A grin appeared on his face feeling very excited to have a snack time with his close friend. “Ice dance practice just finished and now they’re doing the draw lots for the starting order.”

“I thought I’d stop by here to eat with you.” He said. His feet casually shuffles into the room as if he owns it, and carefully placed the plastic on the table. Then, he faced Joshua and asked,” So, how are you doing lately?”

Joshua smiled and shrugged. “Hm, okay.” He purses his lips.

The Korean representative eyed him with a disbelieving smile, “Hmm, I don’t believe you,” he utters. “We’ve known each other since our junior days, you expect me, Yoon Jeonghan, to not know about how Hong Jisoo is feeling before a competition?”

“I even bought you food to make you feel better!” Jeonghan sighed. “Gee, I guess I wasted my time, huh?”

Slowly, he took the plastic bag and stepped out of the room dramatically in hopes of making Joshua talk. It took him ten seconds to stop his friend from walking out and asking him to bring the food back to the table.

“Yes, I’m not doing so well,” he admitted. “So please put the tteokbokki back and let’s eat.”

A cheerful dorky smiled appeared on Jeonghan’s face and he practically skipped back to put the tteokbokki on the table again. He chuckled as he excitedly took the food out of the plastic bag, “Hehe, I knew it.”

“But you know, Shua,” Jeonghan sits down on the empty chair he found close by and then snatching the chopsticks that came with the food. He takes one immediately right after Joshua opened the box. “Just like I always tell you. You’re not a failure and it’s okay not to podium.”

He began to chew and then added, “As long as you know you skated well, then there’s nothing to worry about. A loss should be seen as a stepping stone to improvement, it shouldn’t be taken into heart.”

“But Hannie,” Joshua interferes, “Am I even improving? Since my senior debut, have I ever improved? I can’t even podium…”

Jeonghan, instead of putting the tteokbokki in his mouth, used it as a pointer to emphasize what he is about to say, “Hey, those are just numbers and one—or, two counting the free skate—performances. Nobody knows what you’ve gone through, what you’ve been improving at with just those. You’ve been doing so well since we’ve become rink mates, and I’m saying this as a rival!”

He puts the tteokbokki in his mouth and added, “Heck, your program this season is amazing! It wasn’t your fault you got injured two days before GPF, you deserved a better spot if you skated healthy and well.”

Joshua was once again about to retort, but Jeonghan just came spilling some more, “And if your country is pressuring you again with those over-the-top TV commercial advertisements, news articles and posters, well don’t think about that. You may be skating for your country but remember you’re also skating for yourself.”

“Don’t you ever forget that you started skating because you wanted it. It was you who decided everything up till now. You’re doing this because it makes you happy.”

The room was silent for a short while because Joshua was expecting some more after getting cut off by Jeonghan for more than two times. A chuckle escaped from him as he begins to thank his friend.

“Thanks. I was honestly beginning to feel really stressed just before you came in.” Joshua couldn’t stop smiling. “You always knew when to come in and make me feel better.”

“You’re welcome, Shua.” Jeonghan used his chopsticks to take two more pieces of tteokbokki and shove it all inside his mouth. It’s been a while since he went out recklessly eating without counting the calories.


End file.
